Block Seeks National Trust Charter For Builders Bank

Block said on Sept. 8 that it applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Builders Bank & Trust, an uninsured national trust bank. If approved, the proposed institution would provide custody and related fiduciary services for assets including bitcoin and stablecoins.

The official application announcement describes Builders Bank as a non-deposit-taking trust bank that would operate under OCC supervision. Block stressed that filing an application is not an approval and that the bank cannot begin operating until the required regulatory clearances are received.

Builders Bank would focus on custody

Block said the proposed charter would place certain custody and fiduciary activities it already offers within a consistent federal supervisory framework. The company did not identify a launch date, specify the assets that would be supported beyond bitcoin and stablecoins, or disclose financial projections for the planned bank.

The proposed institution would not accept deposits or make loans. That distinction separates the application from a conventional commercial-bank model: Builders Bank would be uninsured and designed around trust and custody functions rather than deposit gathering and credit creation.

Block names its proposed bank leadership

Lee Woolley, Block’s digital asset strategy lead, would serve as president and chief executive if the charter is approved. Block said Woolley previously led the Treasury Department Federal Credit Union and held senior banking roles at Northern Trust and BNY Mellon.

In the announcement, Woolley tied the application to Block’s digital-asset operations and its experience with Square Financial Services. His comments describe the company’s intended direction; they do not indicate that the OCC has endorsed the plan or that Builders Bank is already authorized to serve customers.

The OCC still has to review the application

The filing puts Block into a broader policy discussion over federal charters for digital-asset businesses. The OCC has publicly signaled openness to applications from such firms, a shift covered in BlockchainReporter’s report on national bank charters for digital-asset companies.

Block’s proposal remains contingent at every operational stage. The OCC must review the application, and the company said Builders Bank would not commence business unless and until approval is granted. For now, the concrete development is the submission itself—not the creation or launch of a functioning bank.